Big Island

On our first day in Ilha Grande, it pissed rain. Pissed. Non-stop pissing.
Sure, it was warm but it was pissing rain.
We were all getting a little bummed at this point because it had been raining or drizzling for about three days and we hadn't been dry in almost as long. A lot of people had really damp backpacks.
It's not fun.
The boat ride there was less than ideal, especially given the weather. It is raining and we're on a speed boat for 45 minutes. The only safety consideration seems to be pool noodles.

I was getting a little bummed in a really childish way.
There was a mess up at the fancy hostel hotel and I was put in a four share room. Which is good enough, whatever. It's a bed. I don't care.
The four share has two double beds in the main room and a bunk bed in a side room.
Take a guess where I was.
In the pissing rain.
On the day before my birthday.
With no internet access.
Oh yes, this was shaping up to be a great birthday.
I took a deep breath or 12 and made a promise to myself: regardless of rain, I was going to a beach tomorrow. Period.

We went out for lunch and joy of joys, there was a TV showing soccer football in the restaurant. We haven't properly seen TV for many days at this point and had no internet at the hotel. We were alll riveted by the sport, even if we don't watch.
And then the power went down.
On the whole island.
Generators soon kicked in and stayed on for well over 24 hours and all I can think is, I survived #darkNL. This is nothing.

At breakfast the next morning, the sun is peaking through. Yay!
There is no rain for the first time in three days. Yay!
It is about 21 degrees at 1000! Yay!
And people are bitching already about the weather.
And I lost my cool.
"Today is my birthday," I said. "And my birthday wish is to not hear a single person complain about the weather for24 hours. If I wanted to hear people complain about the weather, I would have saved myself a fuck ton of money and stayed home."
That worked.
I don't go to places to visit the weather. One, that's a waste of time and money. Two, weather is unpredictable especially that Brazil is right in the bulls eye for one of the largest El Ninos in history. Three, rain forest.

We started out on Preta Praia, a black stand beach. This was wonderful but it wasn't exactly a "go in the ocean" kind of beach. It was lovely to look at. We even found the ruins of a leper colony/high security prison.
Along the way back to town, I spotted the friendliest ashtray I think I've ever seen.

 We took our time heading back because it was a nice day out. The trail signs mentioned acueducto, and of course we were going to go there.

It was quite different than the aqueduct I'm used to.

This aqueduct was built in the late 1800s using sand and whale fat as mortar.

We decided to find a taxi boat to take us to Lopes Mendes because the two hour hike was going to be treacherous on account of the rain.
The water taxi took us to Praia das Palmas, about a half hour hike to Lopes Mendes. There is a trail and it is basically all mud. Solid and walkable, sure. Uphill and downhill. A good trail through the rain forest.
The trail was busy. There were many people headed to Lopes Mendes, including the Crying Lady.
Many of us had lost our footing on the slippery trail. It was to be expected. We regained our footing and carried on. We were all getting dirty with the orange-ish mud but it didn't matter.  It did matter to the Crying Lady.
She was about 40 and had enough of all of this mud and slipping. She lost her footing on a downhill portion - did not fall - and clasped on to her boyfriend. For the remainder of the hike, she bawled like a toddler. Crocodile tears too!
We dubbed that section "The Crying Zone."

I changed into my swimsuit and we spent a couple of hours jumping in the bathwater warm waves of the Atlantic Ocean.
This was both exhausting and exhilarating. Best birthday adventure so far.
We headed back in to town for dinner.

People apparently wanted to make a big deal of my birthday.
For me, the trip is a big deal, and it is big deal enough. Nothing more needs to be done.

Caipirinha

We went out to dinner at this really fantastic place. It was casual enough but a bit dressy too. Perfect.

I'm not one to take pictures of my food, but that's a filet mignon. It was less than $20.

Santi, our wonderful guide, got me a cake!

We couldn't get all of the sparklers lit at once.

I knew this restaurant was fantastic because it had load bearing flags.

 Not exactly a Red Ensign.

Afterwards, a couple of us went to a nightclub on the end of the beach because that's apparently the right thing to do when you're 35.

It was full of backpackers.

Yup, too old for this crap.